Is another City Manager bailing on us?

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I remember when we were told how incredible our liquor cart boy Technology Manager was going to be and there was push back from concerned councilors. He got hired anyway. Then he left, and recently his replacement left. You know, all that ‘building a team’ bullsh!t Paul feeds us.

Remember when we were told how great this person would be as our internal auditor even with push back from city councilors.

Now I am not sure if Shana Nelson is quitting the position, but I find the above employment listing interesting since I thought they were fully staffed in the auditors office.

But I do know that while her and her husband Matt Nelson (parking director) are full-time paid directors with the city they are also owners of a very busy pet store franchise. So how is it that you can both work as full-time city managers and manage a retail business? At least we can’t accuse them of drinking at 3’O Clock in the afternoon at a DTSF bar on a weekday like two other directors were a couple of weeks ago (yeah, I saw you Ron Swanson).

Like I said, I am only speculating that there will be turnover in the Auditor’s office, again, but if it is true maybe this time they will actually do a national search for someone who is qualified to run an auditor’s office, or at least one that actually does audits.

Posted in: Audit, SF City Council, Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls School Board Election set for Tuesday, May 18, 2021

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With all the madness this past year with elections we may have forgotten that there is another local one just a couple of months away.

The school board election will be stand alone with 13 vote centers and a strong emphasis on early voting at the IPC. The school board approved the date at the January 11, 2021 meeting in the consent agenda, so there was probably little fanfare. While I don’t take issue much anymore with vote centers, I think they need to make sure that they are fairly spread out in the city unlike during the bond election where I believe there was either only 1-2 precincts North of Russell Ave. I still think this is a form of voter suppression and I asked the ACLU to look into during the school bond election with NO response. They are too busy in Pierre chasing wing-nuts during the annual gathering of paranoid bigots we call our state legislative session (not all of them, just 90%).

School board members Todd Thoelke and Kate Parker terms are up, not sure if they are going to run for re-election, but it sounds like Kate is leaning yes and Todd is leaning maybe. Would like to see someone with a little clout challenge them, especially since Kate has been there since 1953.

Has anybody heard of any names? Maybe we need to recruit Pam Nelson back to the board she got her political start in.

Posted in: Elections, SF School Board Member, SF School District, Sioux Falls

Did Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken’s Deputy COS get demoted?

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It is pretty unclear.

After T.J. Nelson receives a massive raise this year, he gets a different title, yet, as you notice from the graphic, continues to receive the same pay scale.

So why the title change? But not the pay scale change? Not sure. Some would argue that it wasn’t a demotion because his pay remained the same. But many do not know how the games of city hall are played.

The very unofficial rumor going around City Hall and from my various moles there is that T.J. torqued off the wrong person, so this was a little slap on the wrist. Not sure if I believe that, because as I understand it, he has evenly spread his urine to various bowls of Wheaties at city hall.

If he is still receiving the same pay with the same massive raise, was he really punished or was he rewarded for taking a lump for the mayor? Common sense would tell you that there is no good reason to change someone’s title if you are not changing their pay or role. This is all about politics folks.

As I warned you, in a time of crisis, this is the time we must watch government the closest, because they will pull these little hat tricks behind closed doors, while we are watching the distraction of the shiny ball or the latest virus closing down our telephone booth casinos.

Oh, the drama of a small prairie town. I sometimes feel like I still live in Parkston.

Posted in: Mayor TenHaken, Sioux Falls, T.J. Nelson

The Bunker Ramp, the gift that keeps giving

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So we hire someone with (several) conflicts of interest and we have to make new ordinances to tamp them down. Dumb.

Guidelines for dealing with conflicts of interests between auditors and city staff who oversee parking first need to be in place, said Councilor Greg Neitzert, who chairs the city’s audit committee.

“First we need to get the conflict of interest policy in place. Then you can start the process of who’s going to run point on (an audit),” Neitzert said. 

When Shana Nelson was hired as internal audit manager for the city last year, officials stated then that should the parking system ever be audited, Nelson wouldn’t be a part of that work. Nelson is married to Sioux Falls Parking Manager Matt Nelson.

Gee, Councilor ‘Friends and Family Plan’ wasn’t this brought up when we were basically moving Shana from one department to another? It seems we will never get to the bottom of what the Hell is going on with the parking department and Bunker Ramp.

I’m not sure a policy needs to be in place, maybe we should just hire someone who doesn’t have a conflict. Though I will admit that I have been impressed with Shana’s professionalism in the audits she has presented so far. Maybe she really is a ‘Rock Star’?

I have also been made aware that Greg pulled this from his sanitized butt and other councilors/members on the audit committee had no idea he was going to propose this and first found out about it reading the article.

Like the hiring of Nelson, I guess Greg thinks the audit committee is his little dictatorship. It’s good to be King.

Posted in: Audit, Bunker Ramp, Greg Neitzert, SF City Council, Sioux Falls

2019 was the Year of the Quitter

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Apparently the city of Sioux Falls didn’t have Booze Cart Fridays

It seemed everywhere you looked in 2019 in Sioux Falls (and in South Dakota) there were quitters. Whether that was several restaurants closing or the proposed closure of the Sioux Falls Canaries Stadium and Arena, it was the year of the quitter.

Let’s look at some of our local government quitters.

First, on a state level, Stace Nelson threw in the towel due to a combination of health issues and the corruption. Noem’s staff has been quitting at a breakneck speed. You can tell why she is so proud of her relationship with Donald Trump because they are cut from the same cloth. Do and say stupid things and your staff quits. Go figure.

In Sioux Falls we had some communication issues. Mostly with Mayor TenHaken not figuring out how to communicate with the public or the media. His police chief also has that issue (unless he needs to implement a fee on non-profits for festivals). Speaking of that, apparently the city is no longer going to assist with these festivals for free. More quitters.

Mayor Paul has also quit plowing the streets as much and ‘tried’ to quit using city employees for storm cleanup (but perfectly okay to pay them to put up Christmas lights at Falls Park).

We also can’t forget who has personally quit this year, with little rhyme or reason. Paula Hawks (Dem Chair), Aaron McGowan (State’s Attorney), Jason Reisdorfer (Innovative Drinker), and Brian Maher (SFSD Super). Heck even Marty Jackley quit his private law practice (oh and he quit his marriage to);

On October 18, 2019, Marty and Angela were divorced citing irreconcilable differences.

This is why I am flagging 2019 as the year of the quitter. Now if we can just get our president to quit. Come on Donnie, you only have a couple more hours – do the right thing.

Posted in: Brian Maher, Downtown Sioux Falls, Jason Reisdorfer, Kristi Noem, Marty Jackley, Paula Hawks, Sioux Falls, Stace Nelson